For one night, Long Lake was transported to Malaysia.
The Minnesota International Center's gala feted the Southeast Asian nation. In the pasture of Bob and Polly McCrea's idyllic property, a pristine white tent was filled with the wafting scent of curry mango chicken.
The annual gala celebrates different nations every year, in part to "nurture relations between Minnesota and that country," said Carol Engebretson Byrne, president of the organization. Byrne has personal ties to Malaysia -- her son is studying there.
But Byrne isn't the only one with ties to the country: Malaysian students make up the University of Minnesota's fifth-largest international student population. The university's Malaysian Student Association performed at the gala.
There are plenty of tempting reasons to travel to Malaysia, according to Nor'Aini Abd. Hamid, the deputy chief of mission at the Malaysian Embassy. You can take in a big city (Kuala Lumpur) and a rain forest in one trip. The Malaysian people value "warmth and friendship." And then there's the weather.
"It's summer year-round," Hamid said.
Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177
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